Stories about Russia from March, 2006
Belarus: Ignore What Seems Like a New “Gas War”
VW at TOL's Belarus Blog advises on how to react to what seems like the beginning of a new “gas war,” this time between Russia and Belarus: “Simply pay no attention. Think about those who suffered these weeks.”
China: trans-Asian oil pipeline
Regarding an oil pipeline planned to link Russia and China, with a branch extending through Pakistan into India, the Our Silk Road blogger suggests the old Silk Road could very well be renamed the new Oil Road. “A lucrative idea with a great deal of wheeling and dealing left to...
Russia: Xenophobia and Racism
Sean Guillory guestblogs at Publius Pundit on racism and xenophobia in today's Russia.
Russia: Ilf and Petrov Exhibit
W. Shedd of The Accidental Russophile writes about famous Soviet writers Ilya Ilf and Evgeniy Petrov, their 1935-36 trip to the United States.
Russia: Putin Plagiarized His Dissertation
W. Shedd of The Accidental Russophile and Alex(ei) of The Russian Dilettante's Weblog discuss Vladimir Putin's plagiarized dissertation: “What was Putin doing in 1997? If I am not mistaken, he was vice mayor of St. Petersburg. For some reason, he decided on getting a PhD […]. What would the typical...
Poland: Solidarity 25 Years Ago Isn't Today's Belarus
The beatroot writes about “the difference between [Poland's] Solidarity twenty-five years ago and Belarus today”: the difference is in “imagination, organization and ultimately, Solidarity.”
Russia: Soviet Humor
Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow translates a Soviet-time joke on how people in the West viewed people in the Soviet Union. The joke's still relevant today.
Russia: “Seven Sisters” – Part 2
Digenis posts part 2 of a series on Moscow's Stalin-era skyscrapers, the Seven Sisters. “The exact number of apartments [in the building on Kotelnicheskaya Naberezhnaya] has been rather difficult to track down. […] anywhere from 344 to ‘about 800′.”
Russia: Illustrator Ivan Bilibin
The Accidental Russophile examines life and work of Russian illustrator Ivan Bilibin.
Russia: Valenki Factory
W. Shedd of The Accidental Russophile links to an article about one of Russia's business success stories: a valenki factory in a small town on the Volga River.
Russia: Attack on Litvinovich
Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow reports on tonight's attack on the Russian opposition activist Marina Litvinovich, who serves as an advisor to Garry Kasparov and is also chief editor of the BeslanTruth website.
Russia: Billionaires, Poor Peasants and Candies
W. Shedd of The Accidental Russophile writes about Russian billionaires, the death of the Russian village, Russian candies and the somewhat “militant” names of their producers.
Russia: Train Rides
Tim Newman of White Sun of the Desert writes about a typical train journey in Russia: boiled eggs and endless conversations are the most common features. Also, for a male foreigner, motherly attention of female compartment-mates, which would be considered rude in the West but are a norm in Russia.
Russia: “Seven Sisters” – Part 1
Digenis has begun an 11-part series on the history of the the Seven Sisters, the Moscow skyscrapers built in the 1950s, which are considered to be “the epitome of Stalinist Architecture and Socialist Classicism.”
Russia: Bulgakov
W. Shedd of The Accidental Russophile writes about Mikhail Bulgakov, his work, and a TV series based on one of his most famous novels that has made the sales of the book itself soar.
Russia: Moscow Subway in 2100
LJ user Petya Favorov reproduces a map of the Moscow subway that shows what it might look like by the year 2100. Some commenters (RUS) agree that it is more or less realistic.
Russia: Folk Tales and Mushroom Lore
Novgorod-based RUBLog (recently renamed into Travel Russia!) links to a site featuring Russian folk tales in English, including the one about Sadko, a bard from Novgorod. The Accidental Russophile links to a site dedicated to the “Russian mushroom lore” and reproduces several well-known Russian folk tale illustrations.
Russia: Unreliable Police
Alex(ei) of The Russian Dilettante's Weblog writes about Russian citizens’ mistrust of the police.
Russia: Cold Spring
Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow quotes his St. Petersburg friend on what spring feels like: “It's very cold everywhere, we drink tea mixed with vodka and minimaze [sic] our moving around the city.” Snowsquare.com posts pictures of ice sculpture in the garden of one of Moscow's banks.
Russia: “The 9th Platoon”
Charlie Ganske of Russia Blog reviews “The 9th Platoon,” an extremely expensive and popular Russian movie about the 1980s war in Afghanistan.
Russia: “Preved, omerekancheg!”
A Chicago-based LJ user angstzeit encounters a Russian-speaking bear and through a flashmob of Russian commenters learns about the Preved!-mania. John Lurie's original drawing; hundreds of followups at ru_preved LJ community; Preved! CafePress.com stuff; lots of Russian slang and obsceneties; a Cold War between the Preved Bear and the O...
